RACIST remarks sent to a Isambard Community School pupil over Snapchat by classmates are thought to have prompted a 13-year-old boy to take four-inch kitchen knife into school and take his anger out on a teacher.

Magistrates sitting in Swindon Youth Court today heard that the pupil – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – was stopped by school cover supervisor Jonathon Gambold for running on the morning of Monday, September 28, shortly before school started.

Clearly agitated, the boy refused to go with the staff member and lashed out when the teacher tapped his elbow – hitting him in the right ear.

The boy then punched Mr Gambold three times in the face.

Prosecuting Kate Prince said: “The boy replied ‘I will ****ing hit you hard’, with his fists raised and walking backwards. Again Mr Gambold told him to go into the staff room. With his clenched fist he hit Mr Gambold to the right ear.

“He was punched three times to the jaw, but there was no injury caused.”

Alerted to the commotion, Darren Beecher and welfare officer Kay Bradbury arrived at the scene.

Ms Prince said: “Mrs Bradbury saw a group of pupils around the boy and was initially concerned he was a victim of some sort because of the way the pupils were around him, but when she approached him he turned towards her and had a knife in his right hand and said to her ‘get away, I have got a knife, get ****ing away.’

“She turned back through the door she had come through and says she remembers thinking she was going to get the knife in the back. She raised the alarm.”

Mr Beecher also arrived on the scene and tried to get pupils away from the boy, raising his hands to show he wasn’t a threat to the boy, who shouted he would stab anyone who approached him in the neck.

The boy was found by police in Thamesdown Drive with the knife in his hand.

The boy’s solicitor, Wayne Hardy, said it had been difficult to understand the events. 

“He is quite a shy boy and hasn’t opened up to me in the way I would have liked in order to get into his head and understand why this happened,” he said.

“He seems to have based his decision to take a knife into school that morning on a conversation with other students on Snapchat. He had been having a private conversation when others joined in and used racist remarks towards him.

"Over the weekend it appears he has bottled up that anger and frustration and hasn’t expressed it with his family and instead has been harbouring those feelings all weekend.

“The catalyst was the incident with the teacher. It is clear from the statement of the teacher that he grabbed hold of the boy’s arm which aggravated him further.

“He has to understand the consequences of carrying a knife and while I am sure he appreciates that, I am not sure he understands the situation he is in.

"Hopefully being in court has been a sobering experience for him.”

The boy has been expelled from Isambard Community School.

Magistrate Robert Oglesby said: “This is a very serious offence, for which if you were two years older you would more than likely be sent for a detention order, but because you are immature we are limited to what we can impose, but this is to your advantage because we want to ensure you mend your ways and never come back to court again.”

The boy was served with a 12-month referral order and ordered to pay £50 compensation to both Darren Beecher and Jonathon Gambold, as well as £85 in charges and a £15 victim surcharge.

Mr Oglesby said: “You need to think about how you are going to pay your mum and dad back for them having to pay for your actions and say sorry, this is what I have put you through.”

The school declined to comment on the matter.